First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage
by HM64Girl
Summary: Sequel to my story Green Eyed Girl...? Chapter 1 is up!
1. Default Chapter

YES! It's finally begun! This story is for all of those who begged me for a sequel to _Green Eyed Girl_. I'm trying my best to keep it as Harvest Moon-esque as I can, just like I did with the first story. I am SO excited about this new one! Okay, read on! 

NOTE: If you haven't read my other story _Green Eyed Girl_ you will probably be quite lost. 

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She felt him leave the bed and heard him sigh as he stood beside it and stretched. She listened as he grabbed his overcoat and stepped out onto the front porch. Glancing over at the clock, she saw the hands form 6:00. Funny how he thought she was still asleep or that she could sleep without him beside her. How did she ever sleep before he came along? She pulled a pillow closer and rubbed her head into it, all the while imagining what he was doing outside. She could see him now. He was wearing his pajamas under his overcoat, and his big clunky boots left prints in the dirt. Goofy was the only way she could describe it to herself. He was one big, goofy, adorable man. A satisfied smile appeared on her lips without her consent. The mere thought of him twisted her mouth into it. 

Outside, he lazily trudged toward the mailbox. Two weeks into summer and he couldn't believe how cold the mornings were still. He glanced over at his fields to see that all of his tomato plants were ready for harvest. Yawning, he pulled open the mailbox door and peered inside to find several letters. He assumed they must be wedding congratulations from his friends who lived in the city. A month after the event, and they were still showing up, randomly shuffled with town announcements. He peered down at a square envelope and on the front, painted delicately in black ink, was Best Wishes, Jack and Karen. It made him smile to know that he was no longer simply "Jack" but was part of a unit; part of "Jack and Karen." 

Remembering that he had left her sleeping soundly in the house, he put the mail under his arm and headed back inside. The sun was peaking above the mountain just slightly, and when he entered the house it was shining right across Karen's face. 

"Now I know why you hate that window," she said, propping herself up on one elbow. 

He went over to it and closed the shutters. "Guess I forgot to close them last night," he said. He walked over and leaned on the table across from where she lay on the bed. "Harvest day," he said. 

She frowned and plopped down on the bed. "I suppose I can share you with tomatoes," she said. "I'll come out and help you later." 

"I'd definitely enjoy the company," he said. 

"You better." She smiled at him, and got up to get dressed. 

"I'll fix some breakfast," he said. He went out and picked a few eggs from his hen house and walked back into the house to cook them. 

Only a few hours later, Jack was sweating as he picked tomatoes off the vine. In the past month he'd taken on nearly fifty tomato plants. On harvest days, he rarely got them all into the shipping bin before Zack came to pick them up. Today looked like it would be another one of those late, late days. Instead of spending the evening walking in the mountains with Karen, he'd be stuck in the fields, getting his hands dirty and stained red. Just as he was trying to figure out how long it would take to finish the rest of the plants, he saw Karen leave the house and walk in his direction. 

"How's it coming?" she asked as she approached him. 

"A lot better now that you're here. Come here," he said, smiling and taking her hands. He wrapped his arms around her and they kissed. 

"I was wondering where my good morning kiss was," she said. 

"A little late," he whispered, kissing her again. After they parted, he said, "If you help me out, we could be done in no time." 

"I'll help until five, and then I'm going to try my hand at cooking again," she said, and they were off. 

Even with her help, he was still working to the very last minute. He threw the last tomato in just a few minutes before Zach was expected to come pick them up. He sighed and looked up to see Karen standing on the porch. She smiled and gestured for him to come closer. He ambled up the porch steps and stood in front of her. She took his hand and softly kissed his knuckle. 

"I burned dinner," she said, turning her face, woefully, in the direction of the kitchen window where the charred remains of a large fish sat airing out. 

He laughed. "Again?" 

"Yes," she said, turning away from him, shoulders slouched. "I'm starting to think I'm just not cut out for this housewife thing." 

"Hey," he said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, "I don't see any smoke, so you must've improved a little." She cracked a smile. "I'll go by Elli's and pick up something to eat," he said, letting go of her. He was about to call his horse when Karen's slender fingers wrapped around his. She pulled him around and gave him a light kiss. Running her fingers through the back of his hair, she said, "Go later." 

"Oh?" he said smiling and leaned down to kiss her again. They stood on the front porch kissing sweetly in the six o'clock sun. After a while, Jack pulled away from her lips and stared into her green eyes – those sparkling eyes that had captivated him from the very start. "I love you—" he said. 

She smiled cleverly and released a small "Mmmhmm." 

"—and your burnt food." They laughed together and then he nodded his head toward the house, whispering subtly, "You want to go inside?" 

She flashed him a sly little grin and, teasingly, said, "Oh, I don't know…" 

Without another second's thought, he picked her up in his arms and said, "Well, whether you want to or not—" 

"Don't mind me!" Jack nearly dropped Karen at the sound of the voice. He turned around and saw that Zack had arrived to pick up the tomatoes. 

Jack sat Karen down softly. His face was completely red, and he stepped down the stairs to greet Zack. 

"Hi," said Jack, still red from embarrassment. 

"I'm sorry about, um, interrupting you," Zack said. 

"Oh, uh, that was nothing. You didn't interrupt anything." 

"Right. Well, I'd ask how you are, but it looks like you're doing pretty well." He took the tomatoes out of the shipping bin, and pulled a stock of money out of his pocket. "Okay, forty five tomatoes at 100G a piece… comes to 4500G." 

Jack was stunned. "4500G? Are you sure?" 

"Positive." Zack smiled as he handed over the cash. "I'm proud of how well you're running the farm, Jack." 

"Thank you," he said, beaming. He shook Zack's hand. 

"Good evening, Karen," he said as he left. 

Jack stood still, staring at the money in the palm of his hand. Karen eventually left the porch and went to stand beside him. "How much?" she asked. 

"4500G," he said, still not believing it. He had never brought in that much money in one day. 

Karen gasped and kissed his cheek. "I think this calls for a celebration! I'll go open up a bottle of wine!" 

"Wine, burnt fish, and you by my side. What could be better?" 

They ran hand in hand into the house as the sun set on another glorious day. 

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Well, how's that for a start? Let me know what you think! 


	2. A Knock on the Door

AN: Three and a half years since I last updated, I am home from school on winter vacation and what do I find when digging around on my old desktop, but this story. Besides a few random reviews here and there over the years, I really had forgotten about it and how much I enjoyed writing it. I'm a creative writing minor at school, and while this is certainly an early work for me, I love it nonetheless. I didn't realize I'd written three more chapters than what was on fanfiction. So here it is; I know it is incomplete, but I thought you all deserved the other parts I intended to include. Who knows? Maybe I'll write some more to it. Enjoy :-)

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The morning came almost too soon for the both of them. The sound of chirping birds brought Jack out of sleep. He knew he needed to get up and start the day's work, but Karen was resting in his arms. He couldn't bring himself to wake her, so he settled down and closed his eyes again. He didn't slumber long before a soft knock was laid upon his door. Slightly groggy and with a small headache, he groaned, wishing whoever it was would go away. He ignored the knock for a while assuming that they would come back later, but eventually the knocked sounded again. 

"Want me to get that?" Karen yawned, twisting out of his arms.

"No. I'll get it," he replied, standing up and grabbing for his shirt. He, all the while slightly dizzy, stumbled in the direction of the door. "How much did we drink last night?"

"Dunno," she slurred, half asleep. "One bottle? Two?"

He finished making his way to the door and cracked it open. The bright sun temporarily blinded his sight, and when the sun spots cleared from his eyes, he saw that the producer of the small rapping had been Ann.

"Oh, hi Jack…" she said immediately, down casting her blue eyes.

"Hi," he said simply. Seeing her at his door was such a shock that he couldn't think of what to say. Things were still awkward—she had been interested in him right around the time he was falling for Karen. He halfway wondered if she still felt that way about him.

"I was actually coming to see Karen," she said after an uncomfortable pause, still maintaining her gaze at the floor.

"She's sleeping," he said, glancing over his shoulder to see her lying face down in the pillows.

Ann looked surprised. "Still asleep at eleven?"

Jack was completely confused. "Eleven?" he asked, then eyed the clock to find that she was correct. Before Jack could say anything further, he heard Karen's voice coming from inside the room. "Who is it, honey?" she asked, trying to peer through the sunlight outside the door.

"It's Ann," he said, turning to look at her. She looked very sleepy, but at the sound of Ann's name, her eyes lit up.

"Let me throw some clothes on, then invite her in," she said as she jumped out of the sheets. It took her less than a minute to dress. When Ann came into the room, they hugged each other and chattered like jay birds. Jack was eventually able to slip out the door and head out to work. He headed over to the grass fields, but when he picked up the scythe, he, for the first time ever, did not want to do his work. He had never liked work, but he never disliked it to the point of it feeling burdening before. The weight of the tool in his hand was as heavy as the weight of guilt in his heart. He knew the incident with Ann was really not his fault, but he couldn't help feeling responsible. The sad look in her eyes had stayed imprinted in his mind. It had been almost a year since those eyes looked up at him and tears fell from them—foolish tears, and yet they managed to hurt him enough then to still upset him today. Ann probably now knew why he had rejected her long ago, and Jack felt awful that it was because of her best friend. I guess you can't choose who you fall in love with, thought Jack. And if he could've chosen, would he have still broken Ann's heart and followed his own? He lifted the scythe in his hands and began halfheartedly cutting down the grass.

He silently continued for several minutes, a head ache growing where his eyes were squinted. It wasn't long before he heard the door open and close. He looked over his shoulder to see Karen and Ann on the front porch. Sitting the scythe down, he began walking towards them. Karen began in his direction, leaving Ann alone on the porch.

"We're going into to town," said Karen, "and to visit the vineyard."

"Okay," he said simply.

She stood on her toes and kissed him, and then searched his eyes for a moment. "We need to talk," she said.

He nodded, knowing that it was probably about Ann. He watched them walk off of the farm. His face curled into a sad smile. For a moment he let his mind wander into a world of what-ifs, but he blinked away any thoughts of marriage to someone other than Karen. It was too early in their life together to have regrets. Closing his eyes, he breathed and took in the scent of summer. Pulling his old, holey gloves out of his back pocket, he rubbed his brow and went back to work.

The sun had set before Karen finally arrived home. Jack, sitting in a chair on the porch, shook himself out of a doze when he noticed she was finally back. He stood up, awkwardly putting his hands in his pockets. He knew that Ann would have told her about last summer, and though it was all an absurd mistake, he wasn't sure how Karen would react.

He began to say something strained, but when Karen reached the bottom of the stairs, he knew immediately that something was wrong. Her hair was messy, and her eyes were red from tears—her usual cheer and sass were missing. Jack ran down the stairs and grabbed her around the waist for she looked like she might fall. She immediately pushed him away, and stumbled into the house. He followed after her, and found her with her knees hugged close and tucked under her chin as she leaned against their bed.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Ann," he said. The words sounded dry and forced.

"As if I care about that. I'm not all about you, you know," she said through slurred speech.

"You're drunk, aren't you?"

"I can get drunk with you, but not with my best friend?" There was a silence after that that nothing could have filled. "It started out as just us having some fun. Dad let us taste some different wines, but soon it was out of hand. You sober up real quick when your father starts yelling. He always was a mean drunk. How could I expect that to change?"

Jack didn't know what to say. Instead, he sat down beside her. Slowly, he curled his arm around her, unsure of her reaction. At first she sat still, but gradually she leaned over, laying her head on his shoulder and curling her arms around his waist. Since they were married, Jack had learned things about Karen's family that shocked him. Her father was an alcoholic, and her mother, a once talented dancer, kept mostly to herself and cried almost everyday. Karen had moments of depression often over her parents' relationship.

"I just hate him so much sometimes," she said, pulling Jack closer.

"At least he loves you," he said, thinking of his father, or the lack thereof. He and his father had never been close, and when his mother had died, the only link between them was broken. "I've written my father countless times since I moved here and all I've received are short and simply put cards."

Karen hadn't meant to bring up the subject of his father. "I'm sorry—"

"No, no. Don't be."

They sat there together in silence until Karen had finally fallen asleep—or passed out—on his shoulder. He lifted her gently and tucked her into their bed. Jack didn't crawl in right away. He went out onto the porch. Yesterday had been such a perfect day. Karen was happy and that kept him happy. It was nights like this one that made him wonder. How could she be so up one day and then so far down the next? More importantly—how long would he be able to handle it? Jack knew Karen was afraid that their relationship would end up like her parent's, even though she never verbalized it. The deeper they got into their life together, the more he thought it could be a possibility too. Would he become like his father, detached and unable to love?

"Jack?" Karen's voice sounded quietly and drowsily from inside.

"Out here," he said, not budging from his spot. "Be in in a second."

He knew it would take time for marriage to become part of the daily routine. Karen's moods never seemed to have a routine, so in his mind it would take even longer. He stayed positive, though. Their love would keep them together. He turned around to see Karen standing in the doorway. She looked beat. For a moment he thought she was going to bring up her father, or some other depressing aspect of life, but her lips curled into her famous grin. "So you and Ann, huh?" she teased.

He couldn't stop the smile from spreading on his face. This was what made things work; their ability to make each other smile. He held his hand out to her and said, "Come on, I'll tell you all about it." He then led her out into the yard where they laid beside each other and gazed up at the stars as Jack told the stories of last year.


	3. A Helping Hand

Any rift in the happiness created by Karen's occasional breakdowns quickly faded away by the mornings after. In this case, the farm was ripe with the scent of happiness, and the two lovers were back to their old tricks. Karen would often interrupt Jack's work to dance with him among the tomatoes, and Jack still teased Karen about her deliciously burnt meals. The farm was finally as happy as it had been in Jack's grandfather's day. When the two were married, the grass became greener, the trees grew taller, and the cows even gave more milk. The secret ingredient to Grandpa's magical farm was, of course, love.

Every evening, after finishing one of Karen's catastrophes or enjoying sandwiches from Elli's bakery, the pair would sit on the deck, sipping drinks, sharing conversation, and generally enjoying each others company. The sunset right beside the large tree in the corner of Jack's farm, and the porch was the perfect place to watch it from. As soon as it disappeared behind the walls of Jack's farm, Karen would grab Jack's hand and lead him into the house.

One evening, while the sun was still halfway above the wall and the drinks were still cold, their conversation carried them back to Ann's visit. Karen sat on one of the chairs with her feet tucked beneath her, and Jack was satisfactorily sprawled out on another.

Shaking the ice around in her drink, Karen casually said, "So, you never asked me why Ann visited."

"Was I supposed to ask?" he said, averting his gaze to one of the knots in the deck's wooden planks.

"Well, I know you're wondering," she said.

Pausing for a bit to decide if he wanted to admit to this curiosity, he gave in and replied, "Yup. You caught me. Why did Ann visit?"

"She had a favor to ask," Karen said. Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Karen shushed him. "The ranch has been a little crowded these days. Since Gray and Popuri got married, they've been in Ann's room, and she's been rooming with her father while the old cabin is being renovated."

"Any place with Popuri gets crowded very fast," Jack mused.

Karen laughed and took a sip of her drink. "Anyway, the renovation will be done in about three weeks. That's a long time to room with one of your parents. So…" she trailed off, and looked away.

"So?" Jack prompted her to continue. He didn't like where this was going.

"I kind of told her she could stay here."

"What?!" He jumped to his feet. "Why?"

"She's my best friend, Jack. She took me in so many times and let me stay as long as I needed to, whether my father was drunk or there was some other problem. I owe her a lot, especially a place to stay if she needs it."

"Karen, we're married now! I think her living here will be awkward for her and for us."

"Well, it won't be for very long. Three weeks at the most."

"Three weeks? Karen, you can't be serious! I love our evenings together…. I love our nights together…. How will those happen with her here?"

Karen, knowing exactly what he meant, laughed out loud. She sat her drink down on the arm of her chair, and walked over to him. Plopping down on his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck, she murmured, "Jack, Jack, Jack." He blushed and smiled as she kissed his cheek.

"She'll have to help me on the farm if she wants to interrupt my marriage," he said, kissing her back.

"She's already agreed to take care of the animals, and she promises she won't be in the way."

"How can she be out of the way when there is no place for her to sleep?"

"Oh, but there is a place. The empty corner of our room in a cot she's bringing from home." She smiled smugly. "So, what do you say, farm boy?"

Jack sighed heavily. Sharing a room with his wife and the girl he technically dumped for her was going to be a heavy weight on his sanity. Yet, he couldn't deny that having someone take care of his animals would be a more than generous repayment. He looked up at Karen, who had been watching him. "Okay," he said.

Karen squirmed gleefully, and kissed him all over his face.

"If she is in the way, promise me I can say I told you so."

"Deal," Karen said, still kissing him. "She'll be here late tomorrow which means we should make the best of tonight."

Jack stood up quickly, swinging her around in his arms, and said, "Let's make the best of it then."

He put her down and pulled her to the field of grass. Taking her hand in his, and putting his other around her waist, they began to dance under the rising moon.


	4. Welcome, Guest!

Jack was watering his tomatoes when Ann arrived. Gray followed her, carrying a mountain of luggage. He watched Karen come out and enthusiastically greet them. As they began to carry Ann's things into the house, dread began to wash over him. Was he crazy to think that taking care of a few animals would compensate for the alone time he was losing with Karen? At that point in time, he thought so. He continued to water his crops, and when he finished, Ann was officially moved in.

He hung the watering can in its usual place, and walked up to the house. Inside, he found Karen and Ann sitting at the table, Ann in his usual seat. They were talking like they hadn't seen each other every day since they were born, and an exhausted Jack was less than enthused to hear it.

"How was the farm today?" Karen asked. She lifted her head in his direction as if expecting a kiss.

Jack felt too uncomfortable to kiss her in front of Ann, so he opted to just answer her question. "The usual back-breaking, tiring work," he said, smiling at her. He looked over to Ann. "Get everything settled in?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you so much for letting me stay with you," she said appreciatively.

"No problem. Just keep my animals alive, and I'll be happy," he said. "I think I'm going to take a quick shower before dinner."

"Oh, let me use the restroom before you do," said Ann, and she quickly exited the room.

Almost as soon as the door closed behind Ann, Jack kissed Karen. "I'm sorry," he said. "I just can't kiss you when she's around."

"So, what, are you not going to kiss me for three weeks?" asked Karen in jest.

"I guess not," he said with a teasing smile.

"Oh, yeah?" she asked, closing her hand over his shirt collar and pulling him to her.

"Yeah," he said softly.

She clutched his collar tighter and they kissed. The two were locked in embrace before the sound of the sink water in the bathroom reminded them they were not alone. When it sounded, Karen jumped away from Jack.

"Maybe it is a little weird," she said.

"Told you so," he replied haughtily, and she wrinkled her nose at him.

The next few days proved no different than Jack had expected. Karen was always off somewhere with Ann, and when she was home, Ann was too. His chores were lonely and so were his evenings. Though he was with them both, he missed his evenings with Karen on the back porch watching the sun sink low.


End file.
